Wheel for road-vehicles.



C. MACBETH.

WHEL FOR HAD VEHICLES.

APPLsCATmN HLED siPT. 11. 194 r.

1 ,269, 54 3 Patented J una 11, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET W1 C. MACBETH.

Patented June 11, y1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

COLIN MACBETH, 0F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOB TO THE DUNLOPA .RUBBERCOMPANY, LIMITED, 0F WESTMINSTEB., ENGLAND.

WHEEL FOR ROAD-VEHICLES.

Specification L f Letters Patent.

Patented J une 11, 1918.`

Application led September 17, 1917. Serial No. 191,837.

To all w hom it may concern Be it known that I, COLIN MACBETH, a subjectof the King of Great Britain, residing at Manor Mills, Salford street,Aston, Birmingham, in the county of lVarwIck, England, have` inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to lVherls forRoadNchioles. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to Wheels for road vehicles` and has particularreference to wheels having pneumatic or solid rubber tires. 4

The chief' object of the present Invention is to prevent the wheel andtire from mounting or becoming damaged by Contact W1tl1 the curb. faultytranislines, railway tracks, frozen ruis and other obstacles.

According to this invention, 1 provide on either or both. sides of thewheel, aprote=-tor extending laterally from a point adjacent to thejuncture of the lire and the wheel rim or vfolly and inclined inwardlyso that the outer or inclined face oll the protector on coming intoContact with thc rui-h or other obstacle Will prevent the lire fromcontacting therewith and mounting the soun. thus preventing.: damage tothe tlrc. The protector may he constituted by a continuous annularflange or extension the outer face of' which is inclined say at anangliof about 45" to the vertical hut. in some ca--rs it may he formedof' a scrlcs of closely arranged extensions or projections, the outerfai-cs ol' which are inclined and adapted to ect in thc same-ina nner asthe outer inclined face ol the continuous flange the exact formation andconstruction of thc protector will however depend upon tho particulartype ol' wheel to which it' is applied.

ln order that thc invention may he clearly understood and readilycarried into effet-.t the same will nov: he llcscrihcd more fully withreference to flul mfrompanying draw ings. in which-- I Figure 1 is a.Vertical transverse Asection ot a cast meta] Wheel .showing thcprotector in the forni of a flange al thc outer sido thereof.

Fig. is a `side View of a portion ol the wheel shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional View of' a portion of a castmetal wheel showing in dotted lines a protecting flange on the innerside of the Wheel in addition soy In the various figures, A indicatesthe y tire on the wheel, B the Wheel rim on or' in which the tire ismounted, C the spokes and D represents the aforesaid protector inf theform of a continuous flange at the out/er side of the wheel, whichtiange as shown extends laterally from a point adjacent to the junctureof the tire and wheel rim and is inclined inwardly i. toward the axis ofrotation of the wheel; in Figs 3 to 5, and yy represent respectively theroad Surface and the curb in section.

Referring to the example shown in Fi 1, 2 and 3, showing a cast metalWheel, t e` protecting flange D is cast in one with the wheel rim orfelly B, the spokes C and the huh lll, the spokes C being shaped oroutwardly curved at their outer ends and edges to join with thc innerside of the rotecting flange so as to form a support or and tlm`strengthen the latter.

tire as shown.

'The example, shown in Fig. tlillustrates any suitable forni ot' wirespoked Wheel havingthe usual channel shaped rim B in which thc edges ofa pneumatic tire A are secured. In this4 case the protecting flange D ismade separate from the wheel rim and is secured iu position around theouter edge of the rin hy rivets F; the protecting flange may however besecured to the rim in any desired or appropriate manner.

In the caso of a wheel having a wooden telly ll', as shown in Fig. 5 theprotecting flange may bo provided with meansl such as a ring (l adaptedto be bolted, screwed or otherwise attached to the wheel. Existingr Thistype of wheel is especially intended to receive a solid V mi to theprotecting flange on the outer side of Wheels ma thus be fitted with theprotecting flange wit out necessitating any or much alteration to thewheel.

In most instances as shown in. the various examples referred to abovethe protecting flange extends laterally from the rim at an angle ofabout 45 in an inward direction relatively to the axis of rotation ofthe wheel and the flange is so positioned that its outer inclinedsurface will meet or come into contact with the edge of a curb as shownin Figs, 3, 4 and 5; the outer edge or periphery of the flange need notextend far beyond the vertical plane at the outer end of the Wheel hub,see Fi 1, and in some cases it would not extend eyond the said plane sothat the flange is not in any way lnconvenient or unsightly. In event ofthe improved Wheel coming ,forcibly into contact with the curb theprotector on striking the curb prevents the tire from mounting the curband consequently protects the tire from being injured or damaged.

In some cases a protecting flange D" may be formed or secured at theinner side of the wheel as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 to preventdamage to the wheel or tire by frozen ruts, railway tracks or otherobstacles; the inner protectin flange B may be of any suitable kind anmay be formed or fittedin any appropriate manner according he type ofwheel to which it is to be ap e n Figs. 6, 7 and 8 I have illustratedthe protector as being composed of a series of lclosely arrangedextensions or projections yao l Dc which present an inclined protectoraround the Wheeel so as to serve exactly the same purpose as acontinuous flange. In this case, instead of having separate spokes, therim of the wheel is connected to the hub b means of the plates C". Itis, of course, o vious that in the embodiment shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8spokes may be employed in which event the extensions Dx would beintegral with the spokes and rim of the wheel. From the foregoingdescription it will be understood that the protector according to thisinvention prevents the tire fromcom in intocontact with the curb, unlessthe ve icle is intention-ally backed right on to the curb as issometimes necessary. When the vehicle is running alongside a curb, theprotector will reventthe tire from contacting therewit i and thesteering gear may belturned toward the curb continuously, but

the tire cannot come into contact with the curb nor can the wheel mountthe curb.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let` 6D Lters Patent of the UnitedStates is:-

l. A vehicle wheel which is formed or provided `with a protector, theouter or protecting surface of which extends laterally from a pointadjacent to the 'uncture of the tire and wheel rim or fe ly, saidprojecting surface being inclined inwardly toward the center of thewheel and beyond the inner circumference of the rim to a rela.- tivelylarge depth whereby said surface will engage the angular portion orcorner edge of curb and form a point contact therewit 2. A vehicle Wheelwhich. is formed or provided with a protector, the outer or protectingsurface of which extends laterally from a point adjacent to the junctureof the tire and wheel rim or telly, said surface being inclined inwardlytoward the center of the wheel and beyond the inner circumference of therim at an angle of about to the vertical and having a relatively lar edepth whereby said surface will engage t e angular portion or corneredge ola curb and form :i point of contact therewith.

3. A vehicle wheel having spoke members, a wheel riin and a protectorcast as an integral element, said spoke members having extensions forreinforcing said protector.

4. A vehicle wheel having spoke members, a wheel riin and a protector,the outer or protecting surface oi the latter of which ex tendslaterally from a point adjacent to the juncture of the tire and wheelrim or felly and is inclined inwardly toward the center of the wheel,said spoke members having extensions or reinforcing said protector andsaid wheel rim, spoke members, protector and extensions on said spokemembers being cast as an integral element.

5. A vehicle wheel provided with a rotector comprising a series ofprojections closely arranged about the wheel to practically forni acontinuons flange, the outer or protecting surfaces of which projectionsextend laterally from a pointadjacent to the juncture of the tire andWheel rim and are inclined inwardly toward the center of the wheel andbeyond the inner circumference of the rim a sullicient distance toengage the angular portion or corner ed e of t e curb and so form apoint contactt erewith.

6. A vehicle Wheelbavi'ng spoke members, a wheel rim and a protector,the outer or protecting surface of the latter of which extends laterallfrom a point adjacent to the juncture of t e tire and wheel rim or ellyand is inclined inwardly toward the center of the wheel, said spokemembers having extensions for reinforcing said protector and said wheelrim, spoke members land. protector on said spoke embers being` cast asan integral element.

CCLIN MACBETH. p

